How Do You Clean Up Your iMac?

Keeping space on your iMac will ensure your computer runs smoothly.

Using an iMac is a cost-effective way to be a Mac owner without the large investment for a scalable Mac Pro computer. Because iMac computers are completely enclosed in the monitor enclosure, the hard drive cannot easily be upgraded to allow for more storage. This can be an issue because Apple markets the iMac is an all-in-one solution for those who love media such as movies, photo editing and music. All of these files take up large amounts of space, so cleaning up your iMac to allow for additional room is a must if you want to take full advantage of your computer.

Things You'll Need

• Apple Time Capsule
• Monolingual
• DVD-R
• CD-R

Instructions

1. Remove unwanted languages from your iMac installing a program called Monolingual. This will allow you to free up several hundred megabytes of space being taken up by languages you do not use on your computer. According to LowEndMac.com, the program will work on Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and higher.

2. Burn old photos to a DVD-R using the built in software called iPhoto and your built-in DVD burner. These photos can then be removed from the hard drive and reloaded in the future if needed. A CD-R can be used, but a DVD-R can hold up to 16 times the amount of data that a CD-R can hold.

3. Configure an Apple Time Capsule with your iMac to use as additional storage. An Apple Time Capsule can be set up via Bluetooth or can be wired via a FireWire cable. This will allow you to move rarely used items to the Time Capsule, thus making more room on the iMac hard drive.

4. Remove unwanted programs by accessing the application folder and then dragging the program to the trash bin. The applicator folder is accessed by going to Finder and then to applications. Highlight the unwanted program with the mouse and then drag to the trash bin in the toolbar. The amount of storage gained by this step depends on the size and the amount of programs removed.

5. Archive iTune songs that you rarely listen to by burning them to a CD-R. You can determine which songs you have not listened too for a while by accessing the iTunes application and viewing your song lists. There is a section next to the song title that tells you how many times the song has been listened to. These songs can be burned to a CD-R and then removed from the computer to allow for more space. They can be added back at a later time if desired by reloading the disc into the iMac.

References

• LowEndMac: Optimize Your Mac
• MonoLingual.Sourceforge: Language Cleanup
• Apple: Time Capsule

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• TheAppleBlog: Mac Minimalist